


If the Sky Comes Falling Down

by KrastBannert



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brother-Sister Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Not Beta Read, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 13:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrastBannert/pseuds/KrastBannert
Summary: Soren, for one last time, goes out to the spot he and his sister shared growing up. A quiet spot, just for them to think and laugh with each other, a place he hasn't been in a long time - and runs into someone he didn't expect, but always hoped to see.-----A Soren and Claudia reunion.
Relationships: Claudia & Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	If the Sky Comes Falling Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Soozen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soozen/gifts).



> I debated for a while on whether or not to do this, and ended up deciding that yeah, I was going to.
> 
> This work was written because of Soozen - my first friend (acquaintance? writer in crime? Whatever the right word is) in both the ATLA and TDP fandoms. These two characters are her favorite, and she mentioned to me after I read her TDP fic (which is incredibly adorable and I absolutely love it) that there was a disturbing lack of fics about these two. I consider that a travesty, seeing as how Soren is my favorite character and Claudia is in the top 5, so I decided to help rectify it. I was going to write a Jet/Ty Lee fic over in the ATLA fandom for her - which I still plan on doing at...some point - but this one popped out first.
> 
> Soozen, my friend, you are an amazing person. Even if we don't talk to each other that much, you're still one of my favorite people that I've met in my time both on here and on Tumblr. You've always been incredibly kind to me, you've given me advice and ideas, you've listened to me gush about your fics and about mine when you comment on them, and I still consider it an honor that you chose to read any of my fics in the first place. I said it once quite a while ago, and it's still true: I look up to you as a writer and artist. I know you're taking a bit of a break but still, you are. You don't owe me anything for writing this; just consider it repayment for being an incredible writer, and an even better human being.
> 
> All I can say is thank you, and I wish you the very best (I know that probably sounds like a goodbye but I swear it's not, I just didn't know how to end that).

_‘What if I’m far from home?_

_Oh Brother I will hear you call!_

_What if I lose it all?_

_Oh Sister I will help you out!_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you,_

_There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.’_

_\- ‘Hey Brother’ by Avicii_

-[-]-

He has to wait. Like always.

No one knows about this. About these nights. No one _can_. They’d all…they’d all think he’s crazy. And, you know what, maybe he is crazy. But he doesn’t care. Because he knows the truth. Deep down in his heart, he knows. But the rest of them don’t. They just…they don’t understand.

But he doesn’t mind waiting. Not for this. And this is the last time. He…he has to move on. He has to move forward, even though it’s like ripping out a bone or a muscle. So he’s going to wait as long as he can.

So Soren waits. And waits. And waits, until the others are asleep, until he knows the guards will be so mind-numbingly bored that they won’t pay attention to him. He leaves his armor and sword, takes only a dagger buckled to his belt and a knife slipped into his boot. He tugs on a cloak, and makes his way through the palace, taking a shortcut through one of the escape tunnels.

He slips soundlessly out of the castle, grumbling when he has to squeeze through a tight door that wouldn’t budge open without squeaking (he _knew_ his muscles had been getting bigger, but no one had believed him!). It’s dark, dark enough that even Janai with her _unfairly_ good eyesight might need a torch or that special glowy-power she has, but he doesn’t. It’s been years since he walked this path, but he still knows it like the back of his hand.

Every footfall, every root, every tree and bush, they’re all still there, but it’s like…there’s just something off about it. Something he can’t quite put his finger on. On instinct, he turns to his left, opens his mouth to say something, but then, he remembers – she’s not there. Not anymore. She hasn’t been for…five years, now. Maybe more.

His heart stings fiercely. He misses her. So much. He never thought he’d miss someone like this. Sure, he always misses his friends when he doesn’t see them for a while, but this is different. It’s like…like missing half of himself. He and Claudia had always been intertwined. She had been his best friend all his life, and then they…split.

And he had been torn apart.

He’d cried that first night, riding towards the Storm Spire. He had cried as he rode, blinking away the tears. He’d only been able to keep going because he knew it was the right thing to do. But if…if Clauds had asked, he would have stopped and turn around. And sometimes, he thinks he should have, because then he could have protected her.

Perhaps things would be different.

He’d last seen her over a year and a half ago. Her hair had been bone white, and there had been a look about her that just…she just looked happy, almost _giddy_ , but at the same time terrified and confused, and just… _lost_. He had wanted to sweep her away and protect her, like a big brother should. Like _he_ should have done, five years ago.

His feet carry him as he thinks. They know the way. They know the worn dirt trails that they’d tread a hundred times upon a hundred times. His feet take him to the lake, the same one he and Clauds had always gone to.

It had been Claudia’s idea to go here. They’d been eight and seven, and they’d just been…exploring, one day. Their family had been…happy, then. It was before dark magic and Crownguards, before magma titans and dragons and evil archmages from the dawn of time.

Through it all, he’d remembered these nights. When they’d lay out under the stars and make up constellations and stories and animals, when they’d let their imaginations run wild and their hearts would somehow beat in time with the world.

He allows himself a soft, fond smile, and wipes at his burning eyes as he emerges out of the trees, onto the rocky shore. It’s just like he remembered. Stars twinkle on the water, frogs call from the reeds, jostled by wind, and somewhere far away there’s an owl calling distantly. He closes his eyes, breathes in the faint, clear scent of the lake and the forests.

It’s fulfilling. It’s been so long since he’d had a moment of just…of _peace_. It hurts, somehow. A distant, faint, throbbing hurt.

He sits on a large rock, and again, memories flood his mind. They’d sat on this rock, long ago. It had been _their_ rock. Sometimes, on these nights, Soren wonders – does Claudia remember?

Does she remember the person she used to be? The girl she was before? Does she remember the happiness? The jokes, the laughs? Does she remember their father carrying them both in his arms, remember him laughing as they ran around his legs trying to catch each other? Does she remember their mother, singing them to sleep?

Does she remember this place? All those nights, those laughs and stories and stars?

(He hopes so because he does. He remembers it all like it’s yesterday, and it would…it would be awful if he had no one to share it with.)

He reaches into his pocket, pulls out the crumpled, folded piece of paper. He stares down at the drawing, amazed at how clearly he can see the charcoal sketch in the night. He’s had the picture for years, now. Call him sentimental, but when Callum had made it for him, he’d felt like it was important. It was simple, just Claudia and he, laughing at something unseen. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, Claudia’s hands covered her mouth as she laughed. It felt…bright. Warm. Like…like home.

He wipes away a tear. He misses it all too much. He misses _her_ too much. He’d give everything to know where she was. To know if she was safe, if she was threatened – and if she was in danger, he’d tear the world apart to make sure she was.

He hunches in on himself, tries to will the tears that brim at his eyes, that spill out onto his cheeks. He chokes back the sobs – he can’t cry. Men don’t cry. They just…they _don’t_. Right? They don’t cry. And he’s…he needs to be strong, anyways. Strong, for Ezran, Amaya, and Gren, for the crown he’d sworn his life to. For Callum, Rayla, Janai, Zym, and Pyrrah, for all his friends across the continent.

But Harrow had once told him that the man willing to cry was the strongest of all. And his heart seems to agree, because the sobs spill out of his chest like a waterfall. He cries until he’s breathless, cries for the sister that he knows he should have protected better, cries because he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get to see his best friend again.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there, sobbing into his arms. Finally, though, his eyes dry, and he wipes at his face. It’s probably time to go back by now. He takes once last glance down at the sketch in his hands, cursing quietly at the tearstains that now dot it, before folding it up and slipping it back into his pocket. He takes a deep breath, scrubs at his face with a hand, and gets up to leave – then stops.

For a moment, he thinks he’s hearing things – that hitting his head on the wall last week when Pyrrah had accidentally knocked with her tail had hurt him more than the doctors had said. But then it’s there again, a little louder. And louder again. And _again_. Gravel, crunching underfoot, and a strained, brittle voice calling into the night air.

He whirls, and he has to slap himself because this can’t be real. It’s impossible. But when he looks again, she’s still there. She’s _there_. She’s so small, so gaunt and pale that his stomach roils in a strange mix of disgust and concern, and there’s something etched into her face, something that just looks like…confusion. And terror. And…and _sadness_. Her stark white hair, once long and cascading down her shoulders, is short and choppy and he almost thinks it would snap if he were to touch it.

“C-Claudia?” he whispers. This is just a trick, he’s certain. Some sort of…some sort of spirit, or hallucination. Yeah, that’s right, yeah, it’s…just a trick of the light. His imagination playing tricks on him.

“Yeah,” the apparition breathes, and his heart twists a little as she smiles, tight and brittle.” I…I didn’t know if you would be here. I hoped, but…”

“No,” he interrupts, shaking his head. He turns away, rambling,” This is just…it’s my imagination. Right? That’s it – just my imagination. Or this is a dream, or a nightmare, or I’m hallucinating.”

He turns, fixes a glance at the Claudia-apparition, the apparition that has eyes suddenly blown wide and is shaking its head. It takes a step forward; Soren doesn’t move a muscle, the hair on the back of his neck rising on end.” No, Soren, it’s…it’s _me_.”

“But it…it can’t be,” he breathes. He feels frozen, rooted to the spot, but he feels himself take a step forward, just as Claudia.

“Soren, it’s me, I _promise_ you it’s me,” she says quietly, and suddenly his heart is splitting again because Claudia – even if this Claudia is just an apparition – just seems _broken_ , and he wants to wrap her up and sweep her away.

“I had hoped you’d be here,” Claudia whispers, shuffling a few steps closer. They’re just an arm’s length away, now, and she’s clutching at her arms and shuffling in place like his sister always did when she was agitated. But she’s clutching tight, too tight for an apparition, really, and suddenly all Soren can think is that it’s her.” I just…I had to see you again. You were my best friend, Soren, and I needed to…to…see my brother again, even if you were going to tell me to get lost or…or kill me. I wanted to say that I’m sorry and that I was wrong and stupid and that you deserved a better sister-“

It’s _really_ her, he realizes, and he can’t listen to her anymore. And damn the consequences – he’s dreamed of seeing his sister again for so long, now, that he doesn’t care. He closes the distance and wraps her in a hug that he worries will crush her bones, but to a certain degree, he doesn’t care.

She’s his _sister_ , and she’s _here_.

“Shut up, Clauds,” he mumbles into his sister’s hair, and he feels her shake with fragile laughter.” Just…shut up, for once.”

“Okay,” he feels her breathe. They sink to their knees in the gravel, and he lets out a deep, shaking breath.

She’s here. She’s real. She’s okay – or she will be.

“I thought you’d be angry at me,” Claudia whispers into his shoulder. His heart clenches as he shakes his head, and Clauds burrows a little deeper into his shoulder.” That you’d…you’d hate me.”

He shakes his head. He’d thought he had, once. But now…now, he just misses her. Really, _really_ missed her.” You’re my sister,” he says simply.

“That…Soren, that doesn’t excuse anything,” she whispers.

“It doesn’t,” he admits,” but I know you better than that. You were just…confused.”

“What about the others?” she asks, pulling away from him. She fiddles with something invisible in her fingers, gazes down at the ground.” They…they won’t forgive me. Especially not Callum and Rayla, not after what I’ve done.”

He takes her hands in his, gives them a gentle squeeze. When she looks up at him, he gives her a gentle smile, squeezes her fingers, and when, after several long moments where she stares him in the eye, she _finally_ squeezes backs, it’s like a little piece of him slides back into place.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle them,” he vows.

“You’d…you’d do that for me?” she asks, eyes going wide. He nods.” You’re my sister. I’d do anything for you, even if you are _really_ annoying.”

“Even if the sky comes falling down?”

He almost can’t believe it – their old promise. She _remembers_ it. He thinks he could leap for joy.

“Especially then,” he says. When she smiles back up at him, small but hopeful, and with the barest twinkle and the smallest hint of real happiness in her eyes, he can only think one thing: _I have my sister back_.

”Come on, Clauds – let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully that was enjoyable! I'm not so certain I got their characters down right but college is making me scatterbrained this semester. If you have any thoughts, good or bad, feel free to let me know!
> 
> If you want to see me spewing fandom nonsense, the occasional writing update, and a bunch of other random bullshit, my Tumblr is [@krastbannert](https://krastbannert.tumblr.com/).


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